Re: Should I push with school???

[Guest guest]

Dani, what I am telling you is my exp. in Wisconsin so I am not sure how your

district handles their IEPs but this is what I know. If I am understanding

correctly, he already has an IEP in place, speech only. As long as he continues

to need speech, he is qualified for special ed. If you have a concern, you can

convene the IEP even if it is now up for yearly review. When you meet to update

his IEP, you can add the diagnosis on the info page and the present level of

performance page (PLEP) I don't understand if you have a diagnosis from a Dr.

but it always helps to have the medical records or info to present at the

meeting if they need the actual diagnosis. In our case, the Dr. backed the

diagnosis and the therapist gave recommendations for programming. My son has

504.

It sounds like you may need to meet again to discuss the OCD concerns and add

the info into the IEP. There is another page for accommodations needed. Ask the

speech therapist (his IEP program manager) to help you arrange this. That is

their job.

The only problem is if he doesn't need speech services, meaning no IEP. It would

be discussed at the speech dismissal IEP meeting and if he still needs

accommodations for his OCD, he could have a 504 accommodation plan written up.

Have something in place for him b/c things change with OCD and it is good to

have a plan in place as he goes through school. . Hope this helps.

>

> Aidan, my 7 yo ds, has fairly mild OCD compared to so many on here. I first

noticed it when he was 2, but figured there wasn't much I could do about it

until he was older. Especially since he also had a bad speech disorder & would

only speak to a few people. Then he was in a center-based early intervension

program for 2 years, so his teachers were able to handle anything. I finally got

him dx at the end of K, because it was starting to get in the way. He even had

a meltdown one day because there weren't any orange chairs left at the table he

sat at & he couldn't sit in a blue chair.

>

> School got a little better last year because of the structure in 1st grade &

2nd grade is even more structured. As long as they stick to the same

schedule/routine, he's fine and it can go pretty much unnoticed at school.

However, if there's an unexpected change (sub, change in rooms, etc) he can't

cope. Usually with enough advance notice of a change, he can deal with it. All

of the teachers at his current school know, although they do tend to forget at

times. But if he has a meltdown, they know why & he doesn't get punished for it.

And it has happened several times in the last 2 years. However, his school may

be closing at the end of this year & I'm concerned for next year.

>

> I requested he be evaluated by the school district so they would add his OCD

to his IEP (currently speech only), so I don't have to worry about him being

unjustly punished for a meltdown next year. I even got a letter from a therapist

he saw breifly over the summer. Although, her letter was fairly vague with a

recommendation for him to be evaluated by the SD. When the SD psycholgists came

in, the staff told them to look for autism, not OCD, & they gave him IQ & VMI

tests. So I now have confirmation that he is not autistic & a recommendation for

him to be placed in a gifted program, but nothing for his OCD. So, should I

continue to push the issue, or continue as I've been - speaking to his teachers

at the beginning of the year & reminding them at every PT conference that he has

OCD?

>

> We aren't seeing a therapist right now because I haven't been able to find one

thru our insurance that works with both young children & OCD. With 3 other kids,

work, school, 3 nights of activities, speech appts, & crazy weekends scheduling

can be fun too! Since my husband has OCD also, I'm used to dealing with it &

think I've been doing a fairly good job working with him while between drs. But

not having a therapist also means that I don't have anyone to get another letter

with a more definite dx to turn into the SD. So, should I leave it for now &

hope for the best? Or push the issue to have the school evaluate him again

without a dx from a dr?

>

> Sorry this is so long, I'm just a little frustrated...

>

> Dani

>

[Guest guest]

Dani, what I am telling you is my exp. in Wisconsin so I am not sure how your

district handles their IEPs but this is what I know. If I am understanding

correctly, he already has an IEP in place, speech only. As long as he continues

to need speech, he is qualified for special ed. If you have a concern, you can

convene the IEP even if it is now up for yearly review. When you meet to update

his IEP, you can add the diagnosis on the info page and the present level of

performance page (PLEP) I don't understand if you have a diagnosis from a Dr.

but it always helps to have the medical records or info to present at the

meeting if they need the actual diagnosis. In our case, the Dr. backed the

diagnosis and the therapist gave recommendations for programming. My son has

504.

It sounds like you may need to meet again to discuss the OCD concerns and add

the info into the IEP. There is another page for accommodations needed. Ask the

speech therapist (his IEP program manager) to help you arrange this. That is

their job.

The only problem is if he doesn't need speech services, meaning no IEP. It would

be discussed at the speech dismissal IEP meeting and if he still needs

accommodations for his OCD, he could have a 504 accommodation plan written up.

Have something in place for him b/c things change with OCD and it is good to

have a plan in place as he goes through school. . Hope this helps.

>

> Aidan, my 7 yo ds, has fairly mild OCD compared to so many on here. I first

noticed it when he was 2, but figured there wasn't much I could do about it

until he was older. Especially since he also had a bad speech disorder & would

only speak to a few people. Then he was in a center-based early intervension

program for 2 years, so his teachers were able to handle anything. I finally got

him dx at the end of K, because it was starting to get in the way. He even had

a meltdown one day because there weren't any orange chairs left at the table he

sat at & he couldn't sit in a blue chair.

>

> School got a little better last year because of the structure in 1st grade &

2nd grade is even more structured. As long as they stick to the same

schedule/routine, he's fine and it can go pretty much unnoticed at school.

However, if there's an unexpected change (sub, change in rooms, etc) he can't

cope. Usually with enough advance notice of a change, he can deal with it. All

of the teachers at his current school know, although they do tend to forget at

times. But if he has a meltdown, they know why & he doesn't get punished for it.

And it has happened several times in the last 2 years. However, his school may

be closing at the end of this year & I'm concerned for next year.

>

> I requested he be evaluated by the school district so they would add his OCD

to his IEP (currently speech only), so I don't have to worry about him being

unjustly punished for a meltdown next year. I even got a letter from a therapist

he saw breifly over the summer. Although, her letter was fairly vague with a

recommendation for him to be evaluated by the SD. When the SD psycholgists came

in, the staff told them to look for autism, not OCD, & they gave him IQ & VMI

tests. So I now have confirmation that he is not autistic & a recommendation for

him to be placed in a gifted program, but nothing for his OCD. So, should I

continue to push the issue, or continue as I've been - speaking to his teachers

at the beginning of the year & reminding them at every PT conference that he has

OCD?

>

> We aren't seeing a therapist right now because I haven't been able to find one

thru our insurance that works with both young children & OCD. With 3 other kids,

work, school, 3 nights of activities, speech appts, & crazy weekends scheduling

can be fun too! Since my husband has OCD also, I'm used to dealing with it &

think I've been doing a fairly good job working with him while between drs. But

not having a therapist also means that I don't have anyone to get another letter

with a more definite dx to turn into the SD. So, should I leave it for now &

hope for the best? Or push the issue to have the school evaluate him again

without a dx from a dr?

>

> Sorry this is so long, I'm just a little frustrated...

>

> Dani

>

[Guest guest]

I had to give the school letters from several therapists stating the diagnosis

so that I could put him in the 504 plan at the beginning of high-school. IEP

started around 2nd grade all the way through 8th and then we switched. How are

things going academically?

Pam L.

[Guest guest]

Overall he's doing ok at school. He has a speech disorder, which has affected

his reading. Although after 18mos of having a tutor outside of school, he's

only 1 reading level behind where he should be. And I thank God for my aunt

everyday, because my kids go to her house after school & she works really hard

with him on his spelling words. But he does wonderfully in Math. He struggles

at times with his reading/comprehension tests when he has to take it himself,

but does wonderfully when they read it to him.

His tutor just e-mailed me info on twice exceptional kids (gifted with a

learning disability) today, which I hope will help me when I finally get the

psychologists' report & meet with his IEP team. His tutor is also a teacher for

the Phila School District, although not at his school, so she knows how much of

a mess things are with the SD right now. I think my biggest problem was when I

asked the psychologist about his OCD not being mentioned at all in her e-mail,

she told me I should be thrilled that he was labeled 'intellectually superior' &

that I would not want him labeled with an emotional disturbance. I don't think

of his OCD as an 'emotional disturbance', though so I was not at all happy with

her response or dismissal of what I think is an issue!

I guess for now, I should wait & see what happens.?. And continue to search for

a new therapist who fits Aidan & can give me a letter that includes a definite

dx so I can it added to his IEP. And hope that at least for now his OCD doesn't

change/worsen. I also plan to discuss this with his teacher on Friday at our

report card conference.

Thanks,

Dani

>

> How are things going academically?

>

> Pam L.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Overall he's doing ok at school. He has a speech disorder, which has affected

his reading. Although after 18mos of having a tutor outside of school, he's

only 1 reading level behind where he should be. And I thank God for my aunt

everyday, because my kids go to her house after school & she works really hard

with him on his spelling words. But he does wonderfully in Math. He struggles

at times with his reading/comprehension tests when he has to take it himself,

but does wonderfully when they read it to him.

His tutor just e-mailed me info on twice exceptional kids (gifted with a

learning disability) today, which I hope will help me when I finally get the

psychologists' report & meet with his IEP team. His tutor is also a teacher for

the Phila School District, although not at his school, so she knows how much of

a mess things are with the SD right now. I think my biggest problem was when I

asked the psychologist about his OCD not being mentioned at all in her e-mail,

she told me I should be thrilled that he was labeled 'intellectually superior' &

that I would not want him labeled with an emotional disturbance. I don't think

of his OCD as an 'emotional disturbance', though so I was not at all happy with

her response or dismissal of what I think is an issue!

I guess for now, I should wait & see what happens.?. And continue to search for

a new therapist who fits Aidan & can give me a letter that includes a definite

dx so I can it added to his IEP. And hope that at least for now his OCD doesn't

change/worsen. I also plan to discuss this with his teacher on Friday at our

report card conference.

Thanks,

Dani

>

> How are things going academically?

>

> Pam L.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Just a quick vent... The SD psychologist emailed me again today saying that

Aidan doesn't have OCD. She said his issues come from his high IQ. Two weeks

ago she told me she didn't test him for OCD, but tested his IQ & looked for

autism. So how can she tell me now that he doesn't have OCD??? I'm not

discounting his IQ, which was just tested by the SD & is 158. But how does that

explain the meltdowns when he couldn't sit on the S at circle time in K, or

there weren't any orange chairs to sit in, or he didn't shake 5 people's hands

during the sign of peace at Mass? The S & orange chairs aren't factors anymore

in 2nd grade. And his 1 therapist helped get past the 5 handshake thing. But

there still other issues that we deal with all the time. How can this

psychologist give a dx (or lack of one) about something she didn't look for!?

Ok, I'm done now! I just needed to get it all out!

Dani

[Guest guest]

Get an independent evaluation by a psychiatrist or PhD psychologist and have

them administer the Yale Brown. Give it to the school.

[Guest guest]

Dani, the main point is that you want him to have accommodations so he can

function well when he is at school. Until you get the psych diagnosis, you can

still get the accommodations put in the IEP. It took a while for my son to get

the diagnosis(6 years) and we had no 504 or IEP. But I was able to talk to the

teachers and get accommodations set up every year. Luckily for you, you have the

IEP so take a look at the IEP.

Present level of performance-should include how his speech is interfering with

his school performance. could also include how his anxiety is interfering.

Special Factors or Program mod./supports-could include accommodations that help

him.

The program manager should be able to do this with you without having to have a

full IEP meeting.

>

> Get an independent evaluation by a psychiatrist or PhD psychologist and have

them administer the Yale Brown. Give it to the school.

>

[Guest guest]

Dani, why did they rule out autism? Your first 2 paragraphs had me thinking it

fit. That said, in middle school I had them test for several things,

and mentioned I felt he had Aspergers. Their tests (and school autism expert)

said " no " but I knew they were wrong. I took him later to a place that was

known for autism (and working with those on the spectrum) and they diagnosed him

HFA/Aspergers, that was in 8th grade. Now - they didn't " get " OCD well, except

for those type behaviors that went with autism, which 's OCD wasn't (and

isn't) that type.

Just saying to go with your gut, don't let one evaluators answers have you rule

out seeking another. When they read his test results to me, I saw a couple or

so that went with autism, so did the OT, but the school psych didn't, she hadn't

had any autistic experience. Just like they had to take my word about his OCD,

they had no experience with it. If he'd been having contamination issues, yeah,

they knew about that OCD, but his OCD didn't present that way.

I saw another of your replies that had me thinking...will go reply to it now,

need to read it again.

>

> Aidan, my 7 yo ds, has fairly mild OCD compared to so many on here. I first

noticed it when he was 2, but figured there wasn't much I could do about it

until he was older. Especially since he also had a bad speech disorder & would

only speak to a few people. Then he was in a center-based early intervension

program for 2 years, so his teachers were able to handle anything. I finally got

him dx at the end of K, because it was starting to get in the way. He even had

a meltdown one day because there weren't any orange chairs left at the table he

sat at & he couldn't sit in a blue chair.

>

> School got a little better last year because of the structure in 1st grade &

2nd grade is even more structured. As long as they stick to the same

schedule/routine, he's fine and it can go pretty much unnoticed at school.

However, if there's an unexpected change (sub, change in rooms, etc) he can't

cope. Usually with enough advance notice of a change, he can deal with it. All

of the teachers at his current school know, although they do tend to forget at

times. But if he has a meltdown, they know why & he doesn't get punished for it.

And it has happened several times in the last 2 years. However, his school may

be closing at the end of this year & I'm concerned for next year.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dani, his speech disorder - is that just articulation or more? You mentioned

affecting his reading, didn't know if you just meant orally.

It stands out that he does so much better when things are read to him regarding

reading/comprehension. Did they find that in any of those tests they gave? Any

type learning disability?

If the school is already accommodating him ways, such as you mentioned earlier,

his teachers know to let him know there's a change in routine ahead of time,

etc., things to prevent his getting upset, then they need to have all this in a

Plan that will follow him each grade; as you said, it benefits him and the next

grade's teachers to know this and have a Plan to follow.

was also twice exceptional once we had his OCD diagnosis and then later

his Aspergers Syndrome dx. We didn't really need to have anything in his 504

Plan for the Aspergers, he was doing well overall despite it. The social aspect

was the harder for him due to AS than his schoolwork/environment.

>

> Overall he's doing ok at school. He has a speech disorder, which has affected

his reading. Although after 18mos of having a tutor outside of school, he's

only 1 reading level behind where he should be. And I thank God for my aunt

everyday, because my kids go to her house after school & she works really hard

with him on his spelling words. But he does wonderfully in Math. He struggles

at times with his reading/comprehension tests when he has to take it himself,

but does wonderfully when they read it to him.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Since I've only exchanged e-mails with the SD psychologist, I'm not sure

exactly why they ruled out autism. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had

tested on the spectrum, although I wasn't really concerned about it. When he

was younger he would avoid eye contact at times, wouldn't interact/speak much

with anyone, he had some sensory issues (we had to cut tags out of clothes & he

still hates some loud noises). Over the last few years he's grown out of them,

as least to a point & I think the causes are/were all things other than autism.

He doesn't make eye contact because he's paying attention to something else. He

didn't speak to people because his speech was so bad & he got frustrated when

people couldn't understand him. To him it was just easier to not talk. After

learning a bit more about OCD & being on here, I think the problem with his

clothing tags was part of his OCD. Now almost all of his clothes are 'tagless'

(not by design), so it doesn't really come up anymore. Although he does still

run from the vaccuum.

His speech disorder is mainly articulation & it has come a long way in the last

2 years. It has definitely affected his reading, mostly I thing because he

can't sound out words. Being taught to sound words out was completely lost on

him because there were so many sounds he couldn't make. As he's made jumps in

his speech, he's made jumps in his reading. We've had his hearing tested a few

times & he has no hearing problem that's affecting his speech, though. His

tutor has helped, but a lot of it has come more from memorizing his spelling &

high frequency words than anything else. He still has a lot of trouble trying

to sound out a new word.

He hasn't been diagnosed with any learning disability & after the e-mails I

received from the SD psychologist I don't think any will be diagnosed soon.

That woman can't seem to get past his IQ and seems to think that any quirk, has

to be coming from his 'superior intellect'.

I think it would be so much easier if his OCD issues were the 'obvious'

contamination type that everyone thinks of when they hear 'OCD'. But since his

are things that either fit well in a structured classroom setting, aren't things

that would necessarily come up at school, or are little things that aren't

necessarily noticeable to most people, it's making this whole process a lot more

difficult than it should be.

I'm hoping that they will at the very least note my concerns on his GIEP when we

meet to prepare it. I think there's a chance they will 'humor me', because

right now everyone at school seems to be in awe of his IQ.

This is another really long post! But I think I hit all of your questions from

both of your replies....

Dani

>

> Dani, why did they rule out autism? >

>

>Dani, his speech disorder - is that just articulation or more? You mentioned

affecting his reading, didn't know if you just meant orally.

It stands out that he does so much better when things are read to him regarding

reading/comprehension. Did they find that in any of those tests they gave? Any

type learning disability?

>

[Guest guest]

This psychologist sounds like a quack and unfortunately there are a lot of them

out there. If I were you, I would go ahead and try to find another one if

possible.

And as a mother of an OCD child and listening to the others on the group (not as

an expert by any means), I have noticed that many many of us have children who

have high IQ's. I'm thinking there is a link between a high IQ and OCD. I

haven't done any research on the subject, but that is an observation from

listening to many of the other parents. There may be articles on this forum

about it and I haven't taken the time to really look.

>

> Just a quick vent... The SD psychologist emailed me again today saying that

Aidan doesn't have OCD. She said his issues come from his high IQ. Two weeks

ago she told me she didn't test him for OCD, but tested his IQ & looked for

autism. So how can she tell me now that he doesn't have OCD??? I'm not

discounting his IQ, which was just tested by the SD & is 158. But how does that

explain the meltdowns when he couldn't sit on the S at circle time in K, or

there weren't any orange chairs to sit in, or he didn't shake 5 people's hands

during the sign of peace at Mass? The S & orange chairs aren't factors anymore

in 2nd grade. And his 1 therapist helped get past the 5 handshake thing. But

there still other issues that we deal with all the time. How can this

psychologist give a dx (or lack of one) about something she didn't look for!?

>

> Ok, I'm done now! I just needed to get it all out!

>

> Dani

>

[Guest guest]

I think she sounds like a quack too! But I guess that's what I should probably

expect from the School District of Philadelphia! And I also think that a lot of

people with high IQs have OCD. I agree that there is probably some kind of link

there.

>

> This psychologist sounds like a quack and unfortunately there are a lot of

them out there. If I were you, I would go ahead and try to find another one if

possible.

>

> And as a mother of an OCD child and listening to the others on the group (not

as an expert by any means), I have noticed that many many of us have children

who have high IQ's. I'm thinking there is a link between a high IQ and OCD. I

haven't done any research on the subject, but that is an observation from

listening to many of the other parents. There may be articles on this forum

about it and I haven't taken the time to really look.

>